CW Deed in Lieu SUCCESS!!

[CWMATT]

Don't have a lot of time to go into the entire story. I did have a quick question though. I have all my required paperwork over to Countrywide since May, tried a short sale first, they didn't except, now going the deed in lue route.

I have been trying to sell my home by owner. It was never listed. I tell this to the reps that I speak with on the phone when they ask that I send over my listing agreement or proof that I have it listed for sale. I tell them that it is for sale by owner and that it isn't listed on the MLS.

Do you think that this will hurt my chance of the deed in lue going thru?

Any questions and/or comments are appreciated. I wll be back online in a few hours and can go into more details if wanted.

Thanks

[schwefls]

Welcome to our forum CWMatt:

I wanted to stop in say hello and welcome you to our fourm. By days end someone will be reaching out to you to address your questions and provide you with some sound advice/suggestions.

[CWMATT]

Thanks for the welcome!

I have been lurking for a while and know how helpful and informative this site can be.

[Cat Damiano]

Matt,


Welcome to the forum and thank you for joining.........

Do you have one loan or two?

[CWMATT]

I have one loan @ $375,000. I was an A-paper borrower, verified income, assets, put 20% down, although I did get a 30 year fixed with 10 year interest only. The house is in South Florida, one of the hardest hit areas I believe. Spoke with some realtors and appraisers, my size home is going for really low $300s now.

I tried the short sale route with only one offer. Submitted it to countrywide and after that lengthy process, was denied. So I started the Deed in Lue process back in June. Review process completed, then they have ordered title which I am told takes 30 days, which should be coming in any day now.

I never get calls from them asking for anything, it's always me calling. After yesterdays call to them, I got a call back asking for last year's tax returns and my listing agreement. I sent both over to them (even though I had sent pictures of the sign in my front yard and advertisement a couple other times.

Whenever they asked for a listing agreement in the past I explain to them I am doing it by owner they said that's fine, just send over what I can to show it is for sale.

Thanks

[Cat Damiano]

Good Luck with the DIL.........
With just one lien you are in a much better position for them to accept it......
Please keep us posted on your progress...........

[CWMATT]

Will do. I am thinking I should know something in the next week or so, title will be in soon (which is clean). Only comes down to numbers I guess now.

[CWMATT]

OK, apparently, they do not accept "For Sale By Owner' listings and want the home listed with a realtor, a 90 day listing agreement, and it advertised on the MLS. Even though I asked every person I spoke to over there if the info I sent to them was acceptable said yes, it wasn't until I spoke to my actual case manager that he told me otherwise.

All fixed, met with a realtor buddy of mine yesterday, should have everything I need today.

On a good note, the appraiser came out yesterday from CW, she said the house was in above average shape compared to most she sees for them. She only does CW appraisals. I didn't trash or strip it when I left but nobody has been living in it for 5 months now. I would assume that if CW is spending money on an appraisal that it is looking good that this D.I.L. will actually go thru.

CW actually has a lawn crew going to the house about every 4 or 5 weeks, anybody else experience this?

[Cat Damiano]

Matt,


It sounds good...............

Good Luck with the DIL.......

Keep us posted on your progress..........

[NJPNJP]

CWMATT.
We are considering doing a deed in lieu with Countrywide and wondered how your turned out...did it ever go thru?
Thanks

[CWMATT]

I just spoke with my negotiator today. My second order of title has been completed, they are satisfied with whatever calculations they make, and forwarded my file to upper management for their final decision. I am told I will have an answer in one week.

At this point it looks pretty good. If it wasn't for the 'for sale by owner' issue, I think this whole process could have been done a couple months ago. Who knows, maybe they just want to delay the process for as long as possible. Either way, I really hope to have this issue over and done with by the end of the week.

When a lender does a deed in lue, do they assume the real estate tax liability also? I am current with the exception of this year.

[Cat Damiano]

Once they agree to the DIL they will send you the documents to sign and it should encumber all amounts tied to the property and relieve you of them......just have the docs reviewed by a real estate attorney..........

[Professor Shays]

Their primary concern is liens and encumbrances that are junior to their loan. That is because if they take the deed-in-lieu, they take the property subject to those liens. Real property taxes actually have priority over their loan so they will likely be willing to accept title in that condition.

Good luck and be sure to let us know if you succeed in this process. I concur about getting an attorney to look over the paperwork. What you want is to give them the house and be free of the debt. To insure you desires are met, it is critical that you get an opinion from an attorney skilled in real estate law and debt collection practices.

Take care,

Daniel

[CWMATT]

So far so good. Called again this afternoon, was routed to a different system than I was dealing with before. Automated message telling me my deed in lue was approved, I should receive a phone call and paperwork to fill out by Nov. 4th. Also said don't bother trying to contact anybody before Nov. 4th that it was in process.

Once I get the package I will swing it by an attorney. Thanks for the advice, if I couldn't complete this with no liabilites then there was really no sense in doing this. I found the name and number of the real estate attorney I used for my first home purchase back in 1998.

I will keep everybody posted, thanks for the well wishes and advice!

[CWMATT]

double post, sorry

[CWMATT]

Ok, I guess good news, not really sure. So I got a call just now from my account rep at CW and he said that upper management has accepted my Deed In Lue as long as I agree to a $10,000 promissary note to be paid back interest free over 3 years. I about dropped the phone. He said that it works out to about 300 a month and asked if I was ok with that. I said I would like to see the paperwork to see what it includes. He pressed for an answer, almost like saying he wasn't going to send it unless I agreed to it over the phone.

He did go on to say that if there was a better amount I could afford that I could counter. I asked about ZERO. He said that the deal would be cancelled due to the fact that my credit report shows I am paying everything else on time. After I got done laughing, I explained to him that when my business started going downhill a year and a half ago I started selling everything to reduce my monthly debt and that there is nothing else on my credit report with the exception of one credit card that I buy gas with. He really didn't seem to know all that much about the process and how they get to that amount of money but my 626 credit score was enough for the higher ups to charge me something.

So I told him that I could do 150 a month for 3 years (it's interest free also).

He was going to take my offer to the higher ups and let me know by tomorrow if that is acceptable.

I put 20% down and I didn't have a neg am loan, my house isn't as upside down as most people. I can't see this not going thru and if it doesn't, I really can't see a scenario that does. I guess I needed totally bad credit and be living under a bridge. Bad enough I am renting a room.

Has anybody else had to pay money to give a house back?

[CWMATT]

Well, Countrywide accepted my counteroffer of $150 a month for 3 years which was half of what they were looking for. Part of me thinks I could have offered any amount except for zero at this point and they would have taken it, maybe not, who knows.

I should get my prommissary note paperwork on Monday then the DIL in a week or so. I told them I won't be sending the prom. note back until I have had the DIL package reviewed and they said that was fine.

I was told on the phone that it is all inclusive, only thing they do is give me a 1099 for the difference. My CPA said that I qualify for the Mortgage Relief so I won't have to claim it.

If all goes well, this whole thing could be over in a few weeks and I can start with a fresh slate come 2009.

[CWMATT]

Nearing what I think is the home stretch and of course there is an issue. The DIL and promissary paperwork has been sent back but it is pretty explicit regarding there not being any other liens on the property. I got a code violation letter last week from the city regarding the condition of the pool and their intention to place a lien on the home.

Now it becomes a race between the city placing a lien on the property and the lender taking possession.

The attorney repulls title (which would be the 3rd time) before final approval. If the city gets a lein on the property before the DIL process is completed then the deal is dead.

[chooch]

What happens if you have a second mortgage? Can you still do a deed in lieu of foreclosure if you have a second or a heloc?

[CWMATT]

Interesting development since I have last posted. I have been in a holding pattern waiting for CW to make up their mind on whether or not they would complete the DIL. The City placed a lein on the property and CW was considering paying it off to complete the deal. The lein amount was $17,500.00. In the meantime, I met with the special magistrate of the city and was able to secure a reduced payoff amount. The new lein payoff is $2,200. I figure if they were thinking about paying $17,500, they should have no problem paying $2,200, if they were really considering it anyway. Well, it turns out they were because I just got a phone call from CW telling me that they will pay off the lein and instruct the attorney to file the release of mortgage with the county.

I had a hard time believing they would walk away from this deal due to the fact that they had already paid the real estate taxes ($7,200) and paid to have the house brought back to marketable condition.

With all the ups and downs I have experienced with this process, I am not opening any champainge until I see everything filed and recorded with the county but it looks very good that I could be coming to the end of the road with this process.

[markmc2000]

Heya Matt,

SOunds like you are alomost there. any ideas what they may do about any amount charged off? will you get 1099? how about your credit score?

good luck
Mark

[CWMATT]

I am fairly certain that I will get a 1099 for the charged off amount but won't have to worry about paying taxes on it since I qualify for the mortgage relief act. My credit score has done pretty well thru this whole process. According to the lender, I am in the mid-600s. Of course, before the bottom fell out my 2 of my 3 scores were in the 800s. Other than a car loan which I paid off, I didn't have any other debt to fall behind on.

Thanks for the luck, even though it seems like I am very close to being done I will take all I can get until I have a copy of the recorded release of lein in my hands.

[CWMATT]

City lein has been paid off by Countrywide! There was some confusion between the lender and their attorney for the past month but it is finally done. I spoke to the attorney yesterday, they said my release of mortgage should be recorded sometime next week. I had her fax me a copy of it. This ROM was written up back in November of 2008. Unfortunately the lein from the city really slowed this down but I feel very fortunate that they paid it off.

One more step closer, this whole process could be wrapped up next week. I am not considering anything done until I see the SOM recorded but I feel pretty confident this time.

Boo ya!

[chooch]

CWMATT- So at what point do you move out of the house? Did you negotiate a time frame with Countrywide?

[CWMATT]

I was already out of the house when I started the workout process with CW, which started with the short sale (back in July I think).

Once I switched to the DIL, they had to first see if I qualified. Once they determined that I did qualify, it seemed that they wanted me out of there fairly quickly.

I don't think, once qualified, that the DIL process takes very long. If not for the city lein (as described above) I would have been done with this process soon (a few weeks) after I was approved.

I think that's why, in addition to a couple other items they may want, they want you out as soon as the process begins.